Thursday, October 30, 2014

NBA 2K15 Roster Analysis - 10/29/14 (Opening Night)

2K Sports has pulled no punches in addressing their NBA 2K roster issues. For the first time ever, we have daily roster updates and full NBA rosters, a "Living Roster" that has long been advertised but not adequately delivered until now.

NEW PLAYERS
For the first time ever, 2K Sports is not missing any players entering the season. The fans have asked for this and 2K finally answered.

Some of these players were added earlier in the month, but I think the opening night roster is a fine time to highlight them all.

That's about 31 new players by my count. As recently as two years ago the game was missing 30 players entering the season.

PLAYER RATING CHANGES
There are none. It's the first day of the season. 2K has previously edited players during the preseason, but there wasn't much need given the vast overhaul it gave player ratings over the summer.

2K adjusted these to reflect depth charts moving forward, which also reflects what I've been doing in my personal rosters for a long time. For example: Gerald Henderson might be a natural SG, but he's expected to play most of his minutes at SF due to the roster composition. Which means he needs his position changed or the AI won't optimize the roster efficiently (on and off the court).

On the fence about Enes Kanter (C from PF), Nick Young (SF from SG), Kyle O'Quinn (C from PF), and Devin Harris (SG from PG). Those players are fine now but should probably shift once players recover from injury.

INJURIES
2K made injuries much more accessible this year, finally providing users the ability to edit injuries (including their expected return dates), making 2K's updates worth downloading year-round for the first time ever. The only game mode injuries will directly impact are Online Quick Matches.

Users can also download Injury-Free rosters, a boon for anyone who wants to play with updated rosters but still use oft-injured Derrick Rose. It probably would have been a disaster for 2K if cover-boy Kevin Durant weren't usable for 2 months due to his injury, so this is a win-win for the company and its fans.

It's worth noting that during press-time Wayne Ellington had his injury removed and Julius Randle had his added. That captures 2K's commitment to updated rosters moving forward.

Only one player was listed as DTD but I'm sure that will pick up. It's still worth noting that some players are deactivated but have no injury status.
Active (0 minutes): Jose Calderon, Kevin Martin, Brook Lopez
Inactive (Reserve): Greg Monroe, P.J. Tucker, David Lee

If I check the roster and see David Lee is healthy, then pick the Warriors in an Online game and come to find he's not active (Rotations can't be checked from the NBA Today screen), I wouldn't be pleased. The confusion can be avoided by simply DTDing those players going forward. No reason to skimp and go half-way when these are going to be updated regularly.

Nick Calathes' 13-game suspension is also missing. There is an option for "Suspension" in the injury status menu. If it's there, it should be used. This would likewise avoid confusion for users who pick the Pistons expecting to use Greg Monroe.

The Pacers and Thunder have been decimated by injuries, while the Sixers are missing their only starting caliber player. I wouldn't read too much into the rest of the fluctuation as there have been no rating changes, only injury and rotation adjustments.

Overall this is an excellent showing by 2K Sports. Hopefully they can keep it up as the season progresses!